Memory of Alfama
Since our founding in 2009, we have observed an emptying and loss of cultural identity on which we wanted to reflect, taking the preservation and reconstruction of the memory of Alfama as one of the greatest goals of the Cinalfama Association.
In a first phase, photographic and documentary collections from several recreational clubs in the neighborhood were digitized, thus ensuring the maintenance and preservation of these records.
A campaign is underway to collect old photographs and videos of Alfama from the population of the neighborhood and Lisbon. Fundamental to this task are several local partners such as the Alfama Population and Heritage Association (APPA) and the Santa Maria Maior Parish Council as well as the Lisbon City Council and other bodies .
This project brings together filmed stories and oral histories from the residents of Alfama, collecting testimonies and memories while exploring and questioning, through a cinematic lens, the narratives that shape the neighbourhood—beyond the simplified representations often associated with the tourism industry and processes of gentrification.
Several filmmakers from the Cinalfama team, including Leonor Teles and Pedro Cabeleira, contribute to the project, helping to build a living archive of Alfama's memories, voices and everyday experiences.
The first fragments of this ongoing collection were presented at the 2024 Cinalfama Lisbon International Film Festival. Since then, the project has continued to evolve, with new films and archival fragments being presented at each edition.
It is in the collection of this content and the signing of structuring protocols with the Municipal Archive and the National Archive of Moving Images of the Cinemateca that the way is paved for one of Cinalfama's most ambitious projects: producing films calling on filmmakers to reflect cinematically on the Alfama neighborhood, mobilizing the audiovisual source built by the Association.